PodShare offers low-cost communal living in LA

DOWNTOWN LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- A new type of communal, low-cost housing is taking hold in Los Angeles.

Renters in PodShare live a communal lifestyle, sharing kitchen and common areas and sleeping in bunk beds with an open floor plan. The idea is to encourage meeting new people and living as a community in lower-cost housing.

The company has locations in the downtown LA Arts District and Hollywood, with plans to open a third in Los Feliz in July.

The Arts District location offers 14 twin-size pods, each renting at $40 a night, and four queens for $60 a night. They can be rented for half a day or for months.

Unlike hostels, visitors to the PodShare - or Podestrians - have to register online and go through a screening process before they are allowed to rent.

"It's a small business. It's an adaptive reuse of space. It's a redesign of the American bunk bed and it's affordable housing," said Elvina Beck, CEO and founder of PodShare.